[January 20, 2004] 2003 Internet Telephony Product of the Year Note: This is a rough draft of an article that appeared in the January issue of Internet Telephony magazine. For the edited articles, please visit: http://www.itmag.com As I write this introduction to our annual Products of the Year feature, I find myself cast in a Dickens plot, haunted by the ghosts of award winners past. Now, many of our fine readers no doubt already have pre-formed opinions on whether or not I am born to play the role of Scrooge or not, and I would respectfully urge them to keep those opinions to themselves. The ghosts of winners past come in two forms. There are those companies that I am glad to see are still with us, continuing to create and develop new and innovative products regardless of market conditions — companies such as Audiocodes, who have appeared in this feature as winners as far back as January 1999. The reasons for their ongoing success are many and varied, but it’s in no small part due to their dedication to our industry that they continue to be on the receiving end of industry accolades. Then there are the ghosts of winners past who appear as a sobering reminder that even those companies who have great products sometimes fall prey to market forces Still, the end of the year is an obvious time for reflection and as such it’s a time for us to reflect on those products that have caused a stir in the industry over the past 12 months. The following vendors have all shown a commitment to quality. They have demonstrated an ability to execute on their vision, in an extremely difficult economic environment. And they have emerged as winners by virtue of developing products that address real needs in the marketplace. Much akin to last year’s format, this year’s list features a wide range of products in a wide range of categories. And the challenge of categorizing many of these products is no minor challenge. Just consider how many companies would prefer not to be “labeled” to begin with. And so, we are proud to present the best of 2003. This list should be construed as a starting place for those of you looking for solutions to solve your particular needs. In parting, (and as I have done every year) I remind you — implore you — to do your homework, research these companies thoroughly, follow up, and most importantly: Check out those customer references! – Greg Galitzine Company Prodname Web 3Com Corporation 3Com VCX V7000 3Com.com Airespace Airespace Wireless Enterprise Platform www.airespace.com AltiGen Communications, Inc. AltiServIP PBX www.altigen.com American Portwell Technology ROBO-8820VG2 http://www.portwell.com American Power Conversion InfraStruXure www.apc.com Aspect Communications Aspect Iphinity Call Center www.aspect.com AudioCodes TrunkPack TP-6310 STM-1/OC-3 cPCI VoP Board www.audiocodes.com Avaya Avaya IP Office www.avaya.com Brix Networks Brix VoIP Assessment www.brixnet.com Catapult Communications Corporation m5000 www.catapult.com Catena Networks Catena Networks CN1000FX Fiber-to-the-X solution www.catena.com Centillium Communications Entropia III www.centillium.com Ceragon Networks Ltd. FibeAir 3128 www.ceragon.com Citel Technologies CITELlink IP & SIP Handset Gateways http://www.citel.com CoManage Corporation CoManage TrueSource 4.0 www.comanage.net Comdial Corporation Converged Telephony Platform (V3.0) www.comdial.com Convedia Corporation Convedia IP Media Servers www.convedia.com Empirix Hammer Call Analyzer www.empirix.com ESI (Estech Systems, Inc.) E-Class systems (IP/IVX) www.esi-estech.com Excel Switching Corporation Excel Converged Services Platform (CSP) www.xl.com FacetCorp FacetPhone http://www.facetcorp.com/facetphone Fortinet FortiGate Antivirus Firewall www.fortinet.com Forum Communications International Confer ECS www.forum-com.com GL Communications, Inc. Automated Wireless Voice Quality Testing www.gl.com Grandstream Networks, Inc. HandyTone 286 www.grandstream.com Ingate Systems Ingate SIParator 20 www.ingate.com Intel Corporation Intel NetStructure Host Media Processing 1.1 www.intel.com Interactive Intelligence Inc. Enterprise Interaction Center (EIC) http://www.ININ.com Interstar Technologies XMediusFAX 4.0 www.faxserver.com Inter-Tel Inc. Unified Communicator 2.0 Software www.inter-tel.com Intertex SIP Switch www.intertexdata.com IP Unity Harmony6000, Release 2.0 www.ip-unity.com iPine Networks VoIP Service Management System www.ipinenetworks.com ITXC Corp. ITXC.net - VoIP Internetworking www.itxc.com Kagoor Networks VoiceFlow 3000 Series www.kagoor.com Level 3 Communications, L.L.C. (3)Tone http://www.level3.com/2191.html Luminous Networks Luminous PacketStream ES 500 www.luminous.com Mediatrix Telecom Mediatrix 2531 IP Router www.mediatrix.com MERA Networks, Inc. MERA VoIP Transit Softswitch www.meranetworks.com Meru Networks Meru Wireless LAN System www.merunetworks.com MetaSwitch MetaSwitch VP3500 www.metaswitch.com Micromuse Netcool® for Voice over IP http://www.micromuse.com Motorola Computer Group WTRB500 www.motorola.com/computer Natural Convergence silhouette www.naturalconvergence.com NEC America, Inc. - Corporate Networks Group NEAX IPS-DMR http://www.cng.nec.com/cng/ Net6, Inc Net6 Application Gateway www.net6.com Netrake nCite SE www.netrake.com NexTone Communications Inc. NexTone Multiprotocol Session Controller (MSC) www.nextone.com Nortel Networks Business Communications Manager 3.5 www.nortelnetworks.com Qovia, Inc. Qovia Ion www.qovia.com RADVISION RADVISION IP Phone Toolkit www.radvision.com Raindance Communications K2 www.raindance.com Rockwell FirstPoint Contact FirstPoint Business Edition v4.0 www.rockwellfirstpoint.com Shoreline Communications, Inc. Shoreline Converged Conference Solution www.goshoreline.com Siemens Information & Communication Networks HiPath CorporateConnect 2.0 www.icn.siemens.com Sonexis, Inc. Sonexis ConferenceManager 4.0 www.sonexis.com STARBAK Communications, Inc. Create, Manage and Deliver Solution www.starbak.com Technoland Inc. TL-SBC 9000 Intel Xeon 533Mhz Based All-In-One SBC www.technoland.com Telephony@Work CallCenter@nywhere www.telephonyatwork.com Texas Instruments - VoIP Group TNETV1050 IP Phone Solution www.ti.com/voip Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. Strata CTX100-S www.telecom.toshiba.com Trinity Convergence VeriCall Edge www.trinityconvergence.com Veraz Networks I-Gate 4000 Pro www.veraznetworks.com Versatel Networks Versatel Networks SCS 4000 and SCS 1500 www.versatelnetworks.com VIACK Corporation VIA3 E-Meeting Solution http://www.viack.com Viola Networks NetAlly VoIP www.ViolaNetworks.com Visual Networks Visual UpTime Select www.visualnetworks.com Voiceboard Corporation BridgeWay http://www.voiceboard.com Webley Systems CommuniKate Conferencing www.webley.com Witness Systems eQuality ContactStore for IP http://www.witnesssystems.com/content/ Xten Networks, Inc X-PRO SIP Softphone www.xten.com Zultys Technologies MX250 www.zultys.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]